Anti-Predator Bill Filed in N.Y. State

ALBANY, N.Y. - Legislation barring predatory lending moved one step closer to reality in New York last week when a bill to curb abusive lending practices and fill gaps in state banking regulations governing the subprime lending market was introduced in the state Senate.

The lead sponsors of the legislation, a companion to one introduced in the state Assembly last month, are Banking Committee Chairman Hugh Farley and Aging Committee Chairman George Maziarz. Both are Republicans.

The bill is modeled after a law enacted in 1999 in North Carolina. It would prohibit subprime lenders from conducting certain practices identified with predatory lending, such as financing lump sum credit insurance and other unrelated insurance products, excessive balloon payments, and mandatory arbitration clauses that deny borrowers access to the court system.

It would also provide consumers with legal defenses when faced with foreclosure proceedings.

14-Day Free Trial

The increasing adoption of virtual card payments by accounts payable departments has created an unex­pected complication for suppliers: more friction in the processing, posting and reconciliation of payments and receivables. The root of the problem is that most suppliers rely on a manual approach to processing e-mailed virtual card payments. Suppliers are forced to balance their organization’s need for operational efficiency and control with rising customer demand to pay with a virtual card. But a new breed of tech­nology enables suppliers to process virtual card payments straight-through, addressing the needs of buyers and suppliers. This paper details the growth of electronic business-to-business (B2B) payments, shows how manual approaches to processing virtual card payments cause friction in accounts receivables, describes a way to process virtual card payments straight-through, and highlights the benefits of friction­less payments.